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I (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

W. N. SPRAGUE & W. H. FOWLER MACHINE FOR MAKING SHOE SHANKS.

.No. 426,397. Patentead r. 22, 1890.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets -Sheei 2.

W. N. SPRAGUE & W'. H. FOWLER,- MACHINE FOR MAKING SHOE 'SHANKS.

N0.'426,397. PatentedApr. 22, 1890.

M WVE/VTURS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WATSON N. SPRAGUE, OF MIDDLE FALLS, NEW YORK, AND WILLIAM H. FOWVLER, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO GEORGE I-I. STEVENS, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING S HOE-SHANKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 426,397, dated April 22, 1890. Application filed May 29, 1888. Serial No. 275,460. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WATSON N. SPnAeUE, of Middle Falls, county of Washington, and State of New York, and WILLIAM H. FOWLER, of Newton, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Boot or Shoe Shanks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, the standard of the machine being broken away. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of what is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View showing the knives and their blocks and adjusting mechanism as seen looking up from the cutting-block, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section on line 0000, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section on liney y, Fig. 3.

The object of our invention is to produce an improved machine for cutting boot or shoe shanks from leather board or similar material, said shanks being cut with beveled sides from the flat sheet'of board at one operation and said machine being capable of adjustment, so as to produce shanks of varying widths, as also shanks in which the width of the toe end varies relatively to that of the heel end, said machine being provided with suspended or swinging knives and having suitable means for centering said knives after each cut, all as hereinafter described.

lVe will describe our invention as embodied in the machine shown in the accompanying drawings, using like letters of reference to indicate like parts throughout the same.

A represents the upper part of the standard of the machine, which is of common construction, and carries at the top a driving shaft which may be provided with a drivingpulley B, by which power is applied. For the purpose of starting and stopping the shaft it may be provided with a friction-clutch device, operating in connection with the belt pulley, which may thereby be made fast or loose on the shaft, the friction device being controlled by means of a foot-treadle pivoted near the base of the standard. This mechanism is all of common and well-known construction and we have not deemed it necessary to show it in the drawings.

The forward end of the main shaft is provided with an eccentric which operates in a hole or recess in the piece 0, and as the shaft revolves causes the piece C to reciprocate vertically in the well-known manner common to various kinds of presses and like machines. To the front face of the piece 0 we have secured a rod D, which serves to support the head of the machine which carries the knives and their adjusting mechanism. This head consists of a piece a of the shape shown, Figs. 1, 4, and 5, which is provided with a hole to receive the lower end I) of the rod D. A set-screw 0 projects through the piece a, and at its inner end bears against the part b of the rod and serves to secure the piece ato the rod. The rod D is provided with an annular projection 61, (see Figs. eand 5,) against which the top of the piece a rests, and which receives the pressure as the head moves downward, due to the resistance of the material through which the knives are forced. At either end of the piece a are bolted end pieces 6, Figs. 1 and 5, and extending from front to rear of the head is a rod f, which passes through the end pieces 6 and the central portions of the piece a and directly underneath the end of the rod D, which is cut away slightly, as shown in Fig. 4, to allow the rod f to be inserted. The rod f is the pivot on which the knife-blocks are hung.

The knife-blocks are each made in two p ge for convenience in adjusting or removing the knives. The upper parts g of the knife-blocks are provided with lugs 71., which project upwardly and obliquely and through which the rod f passes. (See Figs. 4 and 5.) The lower parts 0 of the knife-blocks are secured by screw-bolts j, which pass centrally through them to the upper parts The inner or proximate faces of the lower parts 70 of the knife-blocks are curved to correspond substantially to the curves of the side of the shank, and are provided with knives Z, which are correspondingly curved, so that the line of their cutting-edges has the same curves as the side of a shank. (See Fig. 3.) These knives are bolted to the inner faces of the blocks kby headed bolts m,which are countersunk in the knives and which extend through the blocks is to the outside thereof, the outer ends of the bolts being provided with screwnuts, by screwing up which the knives are firmly secured. (See Fig. 4.) The knives may be secured to the blocks in any convenient manner; but we prefer the way described, because the knives may be easily removed and replaced when desired. The lower or cutting edges of the knives are reversely beveled, as shown at n, so that as the knives are forced through the material of which the shank is' formed they will spread, and thus cut a shank with beveled sides. WVhen the knives are spread, the parts assume the positionindicated by the dotted lines, Fig. 4, and they are permitted to do this, as will be obvious, because thei; supporting-blocks are pivoted on the rod When it is desired to alter slightly the shape of the shank, so as to produce a shank with a wider fore part and a narrower heel part, or the reverse, this may easily be done by turning theadjusting-bolts 19, (see Fig. 3,) which are. set in downward projections r on the blocks g, thus moving the blocks is slightly on the. bolts j as a center, as shown by the dotted lines, Fig. 3.

For the purpose of forcing the knife-blocks together as the head rises after a shank has beencu t,we provide spiral springs 8, (see Figs. 2. and 3,) which encircle the inner ends of the screw-bolts t, and rest at one end on the lugs h of the knife-blocks and at the other against the projections v on the under side of the pieces a, which carry the bolts 25. The springs s resist the spread of the knife-blocks and operate to force the blocks together again when the knives hat e been raised clear of the shank which has'just been out.

For the purpose of centering the knifeblocks properly when they are forced together by the springs s, we provide a screw-bolt E, which is set in a boss on a downward projection from the center of the front end piece e. This bolt has a conical point, as shown, Fig. 5, which projects centrally between the upper parts 9 of the knife-blocks, and as the blocks are moved toward each other they come to a bearing against the point of the bolt E, and are thus centered and in proper position to cut the next shank. The bolt E not only serves to center the blocks, but if the conical point is thrust farther in between the blocks 9, as shown, Fig. 5, they will be held wider apart, and thus a shank of greater width throughout will be produced. By this means shanks of different widths may be readily made by a slight adjustment of the machine.

At the rear of the knives Zwe provide a straight knife a, which is provided with a flange cit-by means of which it is bolted to the blocks k, as shown, Figs. 3 and 5. The bolt which secures it to one of the blocks passes through a slot 1) in the flange a (see Fig. 3,) so as to permit of the movement and adjustment of the blocks. is relatively to each other. The knife a serves to separate the heel of the shank completely from the sheet of board, the shanks being out preferably from from strips of board of a width slightly greater than the length of each shank. Such a knife is not necessary at the forward end .of the shank, since the knives Zout to the edge of the. strip of board at this side thereof, the board being placed in proper position for that purpose by the operator, a guide or projection on the cutting-block being used, if desired.

Below the knives a cutting block His mounted on a table projecting from the stand ard of the machine. The block H is preferably of wood or soft metal, as copper or lead, and may, if desired, rest on an under block or bed K, supported by screws (1', projecting through the table from the under side, and

by means of which the block may be adjusted.

The bevels at the front and rear ends of the shank are produced by skiving the edges of the strip from which the shanks are cut, so that by using such a skived strip finished shanks with beveled sides may be produced at each reciprocation of the knives. The sides of these shanks, being beveled by the knives of the machine, are cut and rubbed by the beveled edges of the knives as they pass down, forming a perfectly. smooth beveled surface and without straining the material or ruffing up its fibers, as is often done when the shanks are skived on skiving-machines after being out from the sheet of material.

As will be obvious, the knives Z may be shaped as desired. If a shank with straight sides were desired, they would have straight edges.

We are aware that it is not new to cut a shank having beveled edges directly from a sheet of material by means of pivoted or suspended knives, such a construction being shown in Letters Patent No. 216,044, dated June 3, 187 9, and we do not claim the same.

What we claim is- 1. In a shank-machine provided with suspended laterally-swinging knives, the combination therewith of a centering and adjusting piece E, mounted in a suitable support and projecting between the knives, whereby the width of the space between the knives at the beginning of their cut is determined, and whereby the knives after cutting a shank are centered for the next cut, substantially as produce shanks of varying widths at the ends, IO substantially as shown and described.

. WATSON N. SPRAGUE.

WILLIAM H. FOWLER. Witnesses:

N. W. BAILEY, GEO. T, H. KNAPP, WM. A. MAoLEoD, ROBERT WALLACE. 

